I Once was Lost, but now I’m Found

I threw 4 discs toward the trees. I then went down and threw them in the reverse direction. I watched the purple Diamond disc fly gently into the woods while the other three landed in the clear. I noted the speed and direction of the purple Diamond and thought it just made it into the edge of the wooded area next to the field. That has happened many times before and I’ve been able to find every disc I have ever flipped in my practice area.

OK, I admit that early on in my “career” I flipped a yellow Mamba a winter ago and finally found him on the opposite side of the field I threw it. How did that happen? I don’t know. We do have raccoons, coyotes and possums in the area.

I thought I had learned my lesson about disc colors. I am red/green colorblind as is 8 % of the US male population. That means for me that red and green discs are harder to find in green grass. In the fall of the year and with falling leaves orange and pale yellow discs can be hard to find. Overall, however, the disc colors to avoid for me are bright red and green.

Back to my lost Diamond. I went to the woods where I saw the Diamond fly and I did not find the Diamond after looking for about 45 minutes. Maybe I didn’t find it because it was cloudy and the light was low in the woods.

I went back the next day to search in better light and still did not find it. I spent time in that part of the woods for 6 days because I knew we were going on vacation soon–no luck.

After vacation and while I flipped more discs in the field, I’d go by the part of the woods where I thought the purple Diamond landed. No Diamond, no luck.

By this point I began going deeper into the woods were poison ivy had flourished. I remember one morning when I headed into the poison ivy I began thinking about why I wanted to find this Diamond. I had another red Diamond and had been using it to practice but I wanted the purple Diamond back. Why did I want that Diamond? I had a bag full of discs but longed for the purple Diamond.

The desire for the Diamond reminded me of Jesus. Jesus had many sheep but He went after the one that was lost. He momentarily neglected the safe sheep and went after the lost sheep; to find it no matter what it took!

That day I was like Jesus and I really wanted that purple Diamond. But, I did not find the purple Diamond. No!

I’d go back to the woods for many day. I followed the perceived path of the Diamond. I analyzed whether he had the speed and height to sail over low-lying brush. I surveyed the trees to see if he lodged on a low-hanging branch. I’d swipe the ivy covering the ground to see if he might have slid under the leaves.

Today it has been 6 weeks since I lost the purple Diamond. I was hitting golf balls today towards the trees where the purple Diamond had sailed. I’ve hit many golf balls into those woods and of course I find some of the but many I do not find. As I walked out of the woods today, something caught my eye. I saw reflected light for just an instance but it caused me to stop. Could it be the purple Diamond? It was! My purple Diamond was lost but now he is found! And, of course, he was right at the distance I’d thought he’d be in those woods. The problem is that he had disguised himself amazingly well.

Can you see the disc? He is there but he was hard to see. I would not have seen him for a much longer period except that the sunlight sparkled off the disc into my eye at the precise moment I passed by.

Just before I found the purple Diamond I had a thought. “I don’t have to have that purple Diamond. It really is okay if I don’t find it. No sweat!”

Within 10 minutes, I found the purple Diamond.

The story doesn’t end there. I wish it had.

As I said before, golf discs have a predictable flight once you understand how to control them. The Diamond had a classic, beautiful ‘S’ flight and generally straight in the direction he is released.

I brought the purple Diamond up to the street end of my practice field and let him rip. That’s right, I threw the little guy pretty hard. He did not follow the normal straight-lined path. The next sight I saw was the purple Diamond clipping low hanging leaves off the trees and right back in the woods!

“God you have a sense of humor,” I chuckled. “You’re just testing me!”

This time the purple Diamond sailed into a side of the woods where I keep a huge brush pile. I headed over quickly and sure enough, no purple Diamond that I could see. The purple Diamond did not appear to be in the brush pile. Not in the high grass on the edge of the woods. Not lying on the peach tree branches on the edge of the woods. I must look deeper in the woods. I head back into the woods. He has got to be here, he did not go far. Maybe I wasn’t meant to keep this disc. Maybe I should just give it up and let him stay in the woods.

But alas, he didn’t go far. He was in the woods and I found him in about 10 minutes. He was not under leaves and pine straw as before.

There is no moral to this story. Just fun for me. If you throw discs, you are going to lose some, both temporarily and permanently.